Sunday, October 14, 2012

Shuttling Symbols

The name of "Kennedy" is in the news. Arlen Specter, the former U.S. Senator, has died. Loren Coleman has a post here. Specter's name is associated with the Warren Commission which obfuscated John F. Kennedy's assassination. "Specter served as assistant counsel for the Warren Commission investigating the assassination of John F. Kennedy and helped devise the "single bullet theory." (Source) References to NASA show up in discussions of the "single bullet theory": "NASA Engineer Thomas Canning provided an analysis of [a] photograph taken by Hugh Betzner..." (Source) For more on NASA, see here.

Flashback (2010): "[President Barack] Obama and the first family are expected to watch Endeavour launch on its 25th and final mission before the shuttle - the youngest in NASA's fleet - is retired and sent to a California museum for public display. Endeavour is slated to blast off at 3:47 p.m. EDT (1947 GMT) on Friday, April 29 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla." (Source) Over its career, "Endeavour ... circled the globe nearly 4,700 times..." (Source). "The Endeavour will ride
piggyback on NASA's Boeing 747 shuttle carrier aircraft, landing on
LAX's southernmost runway midday on Sept. 20 - barring any rain on the
transcontinental journey from Florida." (Source)

(Diagram is from one of these - I forget which video and am too lazy to look it up)

"Known as the baby shuttle, Endeavour replaced Challenger, which exploded
during liftoff in 1986. Endeavour rolled off the assembly line in the
Mojave Desert in 1991 and a year later, rocketed to space. It left Earth
25 times, logging 123 million miles." (Source) With respect to the Pythagorean Theorem ("Euclid's 47th Proposition"), the hypotenuse has been said (see, e.g., the link in the caption...or Jim Brandon's "Sirius Rising") to represent the philosopher's child (the "baby"). On 47, see here. and on 23 see here.

The U.S. "Space Program" is associated with JFK: "In 1961, President John F. Kennedy began a dramatic expansion of the U.S. space program and committed the nation to the ambitious goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade." (Source) One could say that the Space Program was "Kennedy's baby" (Definition #5)

Persons of an astrological (I might say "horoscopic" - more later) bent consider Libra to be important right now. "...Libra, is represented by a set of scales and is the only sign of the zodiac that is not representative of a living species. ... [But t]he Egyptians referred to Libra as Chonsu, the divine child, which symbolized birth and renewal." (Source)

"Khonsu (alternately Chonsu, Khensu, Khons, Chons or Khonshu) is an Ancient Egyptian god whose main role was associated with the moon. His name means 'traveller'...'Embracer,' 'Pathfinder,' and 'Defender,' as he was thought to watch over night travelers. ...Khonsu is described as the great snake who fertilizes the Cosmic Egg in the creation of the world." (Source) Endeavour certainly is a sort of traveler. And it is mid-October.

Wikipedia further relates that: "The Marvel Comics character Moon Knight is known as the "Fist of Khonshu". Khonsu is depicted in the comic as his patron and the source of his power, and considers the titular character to be his avatar on Earth." (Source)

"It's Going to Be Nearly Impossible to See the Space Shuttle Endeavour On Its Move Through Town...The decommissioned space shuttle Endeavour is here (at LAX), but now it's got to get there (the California Science Center in Exposition Park). So starting October 12 it'll set out on a two-day trip on a special transport through Westchester, Inglewood, and South LA--and if the total citywide freakout over its flyover a few weeks ago is a good indication, people are going to be pretty damn excited. Well, too bad: 'If it was up to the people moving the Endeavour, they would have the streets absolutely empty,' an LAPD lieutenant tells the LA Times. It's not going to be quite that dire, but the LAPD will be closing off the sidewalks along the route, 'making it difficult, if not impossible, for the public to see the shuttle go by,' so this will not be a fun all-access block party like the night the giant LACMA rock rolled through town. ...Meanwhile, the communities on the shuttle route have lost hundreds of trees..." (Source)

"After a dramatic three-day parade through city streets, Endeavour arrived at its new home at the California Science Center shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday amid cheers from thousands gathered to witness a piece of history." (Source)

"Unlike other high-profile events like the Academy Awards or the Rose Parade, the procession was centered in some of the area's most economically downtrodden and troubled places. The shuttle passed several gritty areas and shuttered businesses, and rolled down many streets that were aflame two decades earlier during the 1992 riots brought on by the Rodney King beating." (Source) Regarding "[t]he motto of the Pentagon's Information Awareness Office Surveillance System is 'Scientia est Potentia' (knowledge is power)", Michael Hoffman has written that: "The motto appears in Latin in order to instill awe and by such priestcraft 'ad captandum vulgus' (dazzle the mob)." Mutatis mutandis, similar sentiments seem to apply here.

"Along the 12-mile course, thousands marveled at the engineering. Some rooted for Endeavour when it appeared it might clip a light post." (Source) The onlookers were described as "a constellation of spectators" (Ibid.). The word "spectator" comes "from L. spectator 'viewer, watcher,' from pp. stem of spectare 'to view, watch'..." (Source) That sounds awfully close to Arlen's surname, "Specter". The fledgling program that made NASA's rocket magic work was pioneered by Marvel Whiteside "Jack" Parsons (Source).

(Dr. Frankenstein's Monster also known as "The Baby"/"Divine Child"/Khonsu/Libra/Homunculus/Moon Knight/Etc.: source)

Jack Parsons is also associated with the creation of a "Golem"/Mannikin/Homunculus (Cf., Aleister Crowley's "Moonchild," James Shelby Downard on Jim Brandon's "Sirius Rising," Michael Hoffman's Secret Societies and Psychological Warfare & Judaism Discovered, and John Carter's Sex and Rockets.)

On the book This Dark Endeavor: "The word 'Frankenstein' often conjures up images of a block-headed
monster brought to life by a mad scientist. But those familiar with Mary
Shelley’s classic tale know that Frankenstein is not the monster; he is
its creator, a young man driven to tragedy by ambition. In
This Dark Endeavor, Kenneth Oppel adds a prologue to Shelley’s
classic with a young adult novel about Victor Frankenstein, the teenager
who will grow up to play God." (Source)

As John Cole points out in his comment (below), Frankenstein symbolism is resurfacing - "[j]ust in time for Halloween" (Source). Also in time for Halloween: "Public tours [of Space Shuttle Endeavour at Exposition Park museum] are expected to begin at the shuttle's temporary hangar on Oct. 30." (Source) Additionally, Victor Frankenstein seems to loop back to Victor Hugo and all of the "laughter" and "Lincoln" symbol patterns. Cf. Loren Coleman's "Isaac Laughs."

Journey of Death?: "Shuttle Endeavour reaches final resting place...The space shuttle Endeavour has finally reached its permanent resting place at a Los Angeles museum after a day of delays. ... [T]he spacecraft that once orbited at more than 17,000mph would move at just 2mph on its final voyage. But that estimate turned out to be generous, with Endeavour often creeping along at a barely detectable pace when it was not at a dead stop..." (Source)

Speaking of death references: "Coincidentally," via email the organization MoveOn (and others, see image from The Wall Street Journal) is describing "the presidential race" as "looking like a dead heat". Is this surprising after our searing (Sirios) Summer of record high temperatures, drought, and raging fire? (See here and here and here.) The Wall Street Journal reports that "[t]he two candidates are locked at..." - any guesses? That's right: "47% each" (see image...and here...again).

(I found this image amusing, given the connection with "Libra" and the fact that in the book This Dark Endeavor, Victor Frankenstein "...discovers a library filled with arcane books, including Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa’s
Occulta Philosophia, which becomes pivotal to the story": Source)

A Dark Endeavor: "In Exposition Park, a long waiting game in the dark for Endeavour...the sun disappeared, but Endeavour did not appear...Some ... left after the first announced delay ... An hour later, about 9:30 p.m., police put up a flashing sign that read, 'SHUTTLE ETA 2:30.' That led to another exodus. ..." (Source) Note that, originally, Endeavour was supposed to arrival at its "final resting place" on October 13: "Plans call for Endeavour to travel through Los Angeles streets on a 12-mile trip from the airport to the California Science Center, arriving in the evening of Oct. 13." (Source)

Jim Brandon remarked that "Specter" also channels a James Bond villain: "SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) is a fictional global terrorist organisation featured in the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, the films based on those novels, and James Bond video games. Led by evil genius and supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the organisation first formally appeared in the novel Thunderball (1961) and in the movie Dr. No (1962)." (Source) (Cf.: "Dr. Evil.") Note that the movie "Thunderball" recalled Bell's "Rodball" glyph that was associated with lightning and thunder.

"Big crowds expected for Endeavour’s final mission through South LA...LA police officers and firefighters are preparing for traffic gridlock because officials plan to shut off streets and even some sidewalks along the route. Here's their list of affected streets: On Friday October 12, 2012[:] Lincoln Boulevard between Sepulveda Boulevard and Manchester Avenue..." (Source)

Along Endeavour's processional route, the press stopped to interview a man named "John Wilkes": "John Wilkes, 69, a longtime Inglewood resident, woke up five hours earlier than usual to stake out a spot. 'This is definitely a treat," said Wilkes, who is retired from the airline industry. "But what would be a better treat is to be able to take a ride on the shuttle.' " (Source)

"John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English radical, journalist, and politician. ... He was a member of the Knights of St. Francis of Wycombe, also known as the Hellfire Club or the Medmenham Monks, and was the instigator of a prank that may have hastened its dissolution. The Club had many distinguished members, including the Earl of Sandwich and Sir Francis Dashwood. Wilkes reportedly brought a baboon dressed in a cape and horns into the rituals performed at the club, producing considerable mayhem among the inebriated initiates." (Source)

Of course, in the U.S., there is a more famous "John Wilkes": "John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was a famous American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865." (Source)